Barcelona take on Zagreb, Kiel meet Szeged

The record winners of the EHF Champions League FC Barcelona face HC PPD Zagreb in this season's quarter-final, while another great favourite for the trophy THW Kiel meet Szeged after the draw at the Sky Studios in Vienna determined all four pairings.

The draw, conducted by Jean Brihault, EHF President and Michael Wiederer, EHF Secretary General, also put MKB-MVM Veszprem together with PSG Handball, while Vive Tauron Kielce face HC Vardar.

The first quarter-final leg is scheduled for 8-12 April, the second leg will be played on 15-19 April. The four winning teams qualify for the 2015 VELUX EHF FINAL4.

The continental rivalry between Barcelona and Zagreb dates to 1996 when both teams were the main powerhouses of European handball. Since then they have already played 17 matches with Zagreb winning just once.

While Barcelona retained their favourite's position in the competition until the present, the Croatian champions qualified for the last eight as the biggest Last 16 surprise eliminating KIF Kolding Kobenhavn on the way. However, their home wins against Kiel and PSG earlier this season should be enough to prevent Barcelona from any underestimation of their opponents.

"This is going to be a match between old, old friends. A match between good friends, a good match.It is going to be a great match, I'm sure there will be season spectator record in our arena and I hope that the team will remain unbeaten in Zagreb," Zagreb manager Ante Antic said after the draw.

"Zagreb is a very big name in the history of handball. We know them, we know they have a huge arena and they play very well at home. Since coach Veselin Vujovic took over they have improved a lot," Xavier O'Callaghan

Szeged already ousted one German team on the way to the quarter-finals leaving Rhein-Neckar Löwen behind and now they stand ahead of a new challenge from a bundesliga top team.

The two teams met just twice in the European Cup before with Kiel winning both encounters in the 2011/12 season on their way to the third Champions League title in the club's history.

PSG have very recent memories of the last season's quarter-final against Veszprem, but they will try to avoid the same fate as they lost both matches. Not all is the same, though, as PSG have bolstered their team two more French internationals and gold medallists from the World Championship in Qatar Thierry Omeyer and William Accambray meanwhile.

"Veszprem are playing an impressive season. They have a great stars. Their goalkeeper Roland Mikler is playing a fantastic season, and I'm looking forward to the interesting fight between him and Thierry Omeyer. It will be like hell for Veszprem - at least that's what I hope it will be. The team has to come up with the rhythm to make the fans come up with much more noise," PSG manager Bruno Martini said.

Vardar and Kielce have never met before on the European court, but a massive interest is guaranteed as Kielce's coach Talant Dujshebaev will face not only his son Alex (right back of Vardar) but also his former assistant coach Raul Gonzalez (coach of Vardar) from his Champions League trophies winning time with Ciudad Real.

Quarter-final pairings:

HC PPD Zagreb (CRO) vs FC Barcelona (ESP)
PSG Handball (FRA) vs MKB-MVM Veszprem (HUN)
MOL-Pick Szeged (HUN) vs THW Kiel (GER)
HC Vardar (MKD) vs Vive Tauron Kielce (POL)